Surgical procedures for the implantation of orthopedic prosthetic assemblies often requires specialized tools specifically adapted for insertion of a particular component of the prosthetic assembly. In the field, a number of different inserter handles for use in a surgical procedure to hold and manipulate a prosthesis component during its implantation in a patient are described. Typically, inserter handles have a front end (mount end) adapted to receive and hold a particular prosthesis component during implantation, and to release the component upon completion of its installation. An example of such an existing inserter handle is described in WIPO Publication Number WO 2005/044153 to Lechot & Desarzens, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
In this type of inserter handle, the mount end is adapted to releasably mate with a prosthesis component via a threaded interface. The action for achieving the threaded interface between the mount and the component of the prosthetic assembly is accomplished using a screw knob disposed at the impactor end of the inserted handle. Rotating the screw knob rotates the threaded interface at the mount end of the inserter handle to securely engage or disengage the prosthetic component. In practice, the prosthetic component is first securely screwed to the mount end of the inserter handle by the user rotating the screw knob. The combination of the inserter handle with the prosthetic component attached is used to seat the prosthetic component at its intended implantation site in the patient utilizing the impactor feature/function of the inserter handle. Once the prosthetic component is seated in a proper relationship in the installation site in the patient, the user counter-rotates the screw knob to disengage the threaded interface of the mount end from the prosthetic component, and the inserter handle is removed from the patient leaving the component in situ.
A disadvantage of this practice is that, once the proper relationship of the prosthetic component is achieved in the installation site, it is necessary as well to hold the positional relationship of the inserter handle relative to the installation site during the disengagement of the threaded interface of the mount end from the prosthetic component. Holding this positional relationship during disengagement can be problematic (e.g., because of the relatively substantial mass and length of the inserter handle, the time and amount of manipulation required to reverse the securely threaded interface, etc.). Therefore, it would be advantageous to the field to have an interface between the inserter handle and the prosthetic component that is quickly disengageable and requires little manipulation to accomplish. Additionally, it would be beneficial to have an interface that could accommodate a variety of prosthetic component configurations for combination with a given inserter handle.